The present invention relates to a door lock device, and in particular, a door lock device incorporating an automatic closing mechanism for completely closing a door which is not yet fully latched.
Prior Art
Conventionally, so many persons have experienced such a fact that when a side door of an automobile is to be closed, the door suspends halfway without being fully closed, and accordingly, the door has to be closed again. Although it may simply be said that this fact would occur if the force of closing the door is smaller than the rotary resistance of the door, the larger the force of closing the door, the higher the closing sound is issued, annoying a person in the passenger compartment of the automobile. Accordingly, the door should be closed with a moderate force learned by experience.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 2-200982 proposes the provision of an automatic close mechanism in the door lock device, which closes the door in a fully latched condition by means of the force of an electric motor when the door is not fully closed so as to suspend in a half latch condition.
The above-mentioned disclosed example, as shown in FIGS. 13 to 15, comprises a lock body A having, in its front surface, a recess B which is covered substantially by a metal plate; a latch C adapted to be engaged with a striker D fixed to the vehicle body so as to be rotated from an open position to a full-latch position by way of a half-latch position; a ratchet E adapted to be engaged with the latch C so as to hold the engagement between the latch C and the striker D; an actuator F adapted to be energized when the latch C is rotated so as to come to the half-latch position; an output lever H adapted to be rotated around a first shaft G by the power of the actuator F; a link lever J coupled to the latch C through the intermediary of a second shaft I; an intermediate lever K rotatably journalled to the first shaft G and adapted to be engaged with the link lever J; an open lever L coupled to an open handle of a door, for releasing the ratchet E from the latch C when it is rotated; and a movable rod M connecting the outlet lever H with the intermediate lever K. The intermediate lever K is engaged with the link lever J so as to rotate the link lever J and the latch C when the intermediate lever K is rotated by the actuator F through the intermediary of the output lever H.
The above-mentioned known example also incorporates a safety mechanism which interrupts the door closing operation of the actuator when the open lever L is rotated if an expected accident such that a hand is caught by the door and so forth occurs. When the open lever L is rotated, a lever N coupled to the open lever L is engaged with the movable rod M which is therefore moved in a direction indicated by the arrow Y so as to release the coupling between the output lever H and the intermediate lever K, resulting in that the transmission of the power to the latch C is interrupted.
However, the above-mentioned known example offers such a first one of problems which is caused by a fact such that the power transmission members such as the output lever H and the intermediate lever K are attached to a back plate O which is attached to the rear surface of the body A, perpendicular thereto. That is, the intermediate lever K journalled to the plate O and the link lever J journalled to the body A have their rotating planes which are orthogonal to each other, and accordingly, they are frictionally engaged with each other. Further, the force of the actuator F for rotating the intermediate lever K is powerful, and accordingly, the friction force effected between the intermediate lever K and the link lever J becomes larger. As a result, both levers are worn excessively, and a loss in transmission of the force is not negligible.
Further, the known example offers a second one of problems such that the number of necessary components is large since the movable rod M cannot be attached to the open lever L.
Further, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/986,396 to the same Assignee as that of the present application, discloses a lock device having an output lever coupled to an actuator and located in a recess in a lock body. However, the output lever has a relatively large sector shape so that the lock body has to have a large size in order to ensure a sufficient space for rotating the output lever within the recess.